Straws for packaging animal semen are conventionally formed by a thin tube of plastic material and by a stopper engaged in the thin tube. This stopper is formed by two plugs of fibrous substance which enclose a powder which transforms on contact with a liquid, into an impermeable gel or paste adhering to an inside wall of the tube, in order for the stopper to be fluid-tight.
Treatment installations and in particular those for filling and welding straws are known, which comprise a filling and welding machine configured to fill and weld straws, a movable support configured to receive the straws and convey them to the filling and welding machine, and a device for supplying and positioning the straws on the movable support.
Such an installation is for example described in French patent application FR 2 905 592.
The filling and welding machine conventionally comprises a vacuum pump and filling needles mounted on a carriage, which are configured to cooperate with the straws and to enable their filling.
The filling and welding machine further comprises a welding station configured to weld the ends of the straws after filling.
The movable support is generally formed by coaxial rotary disks each having at their periphery a plurality of cut-outs forming accommodations configured to receive the straws in a predetermined orientation.
The movable support is configured to convey the straws so accommodated thereon, from the supply and positioning device to the filling needles of the filling and welding machine for the filling of the straws, then from the filling needles to the welding station for the welding of the straws.
The supply and positioning device comprises a removable supply hopper mounted on a frame of the installation and configured to receive a plurality of straws.
The supply hopper is provided with an outlet channel in which the straws engage one after another, and the supply and positioning device further comprises a pair of levers allowing the removal of the straws from the outlet channel for the loading of these straws, one by one, into the cut-outs of the coaxial disks providing the conveyance of the straws to the filling and welding machine.
The filling and welding machine further comprises a receptacle disposed at the exit of the machine where the filled and welded straws are ejected and fall into that receptacle.